Leo and the Brains from Outer Space
by Delphi913
Summary: Invaders from the deepest reaches of the Universe arrive on Sol's doorstep. With their shared technology and might, Earth and Mars hold steadfast against the full-frontal assault of these Unknowns. Will borrow characters from anywhere but DOLORES for reasons stated in the first chapter.


**A/N: This story was created both out of love for Konami and love for the Arcade that I regret not visiting more before its death. Technically this is a crossover between Z.o.E. and Gradius, but unfortunately most people don't read the backstories of games in the arcade so there's no category for it. I should also mention that I'm leaving DOLORES out of this considering I haven't seen it. Anyway, enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: Both Z.o.E. and Gradius are properties of the developer, Konami**

"Speech"/_'Thoughts'_

It had to have been at least 15 years after the fall of BAHRAM that they first caught wind of the invaders. Things were going all too well for the newly formed Conglomerate of Sol. Out of the ashes of war came a new golden age fueled by the power of Metatron. Mar's re-terraforming began, new technologies of every kind were being developed from the infinite and seemingly telepathic properties of their new power source, and most importantly, the Orbital Frame designs were now being shared between the two planets. Yes, it was safe to say humanity was cozy with its new peaceful existence. That's most likely what made the invasion so shocking.

It was a subtle thing at first: lost contact with a space probe here, a couple missing satellites on the outer rim there. No one really questioned it at first. After all, this was relatively new and untested technology that they were dealing with; it was going to fail at some point wasn't it? That was the general opinion of the scientific community at least until it kept happening and more frequently for two years. After that, they began to worry and decided to send an entire research ship which also lost contact. The Search &amp; Rescue effort was doubled when the entire Interstellar Research Laboratory on Sedna lost contact. The six people that came back from the operation, two of which died from lethal injury, had only two words of explanation to give the CSSF (Sol Conglomerate Space Force) Board

"**Black Cloud"**

Some said that Space Madness had somehow gotten to them, that they'd gone insane out there in the black and that their inability to speak was a result. The board wasn't convinced, however and its leader, Fleet Admiral Elena Weinberg, launched a full investigation into the matter. Around the same time, gigantic Moai statues began to rise from the ground on every major planet in the system. This made both the Archeological community and the Board raise a gigantic eyebrow, but since nothing could be gleaned about them, most people just shrugged it off.

After months of preparation, Admiral Weinberg's personal battlecruiser Atlantis, named out of nostalgia for her old transport ship, finally launched to pursue this new threat. It was loaded with a full complement of Vic Viper Mk IIs, Alpinas for their Psychic pilots, a host of drone frames, and a couple of custom models including the Metalion, a prototype weapon that is powerful but untested, and the Lord British, a craft created for the head of the recently established house of Warehouserock whose military contributions were greatly appreciated by the central government. The ship itself was armed to the teeth with Metatron-enhanced Beam weapons and Missiles as well as an experimental Space Compression Weapon that was reverse engineered from the wreckage of Auuman.

This journey would mark the beginning of a war that would last for centuries and span multiple galaxies. This quest would drive humanity past its comfortable existence and out into the great unknown. This was the beginning of their true evolution.

**A/N: I know that was short, but I'm going to continue this story for as long as my creative energies allow me. I've wanted to do something like this for a while and I feel really good about starting it out this way. If you, the reader, have an idea, however, feel free to message me as I'm in desperate need of plotlines to push this story along and plus, I haven't watched DOLORES, so if anyone really thinks I should put it in or even if I should break down and watch it, I'd be happy to hear from you. Also, please point out any spelling, grammatical, or continuity errors. I'd like to remain as true to the original works as I can be. Thank you very much.**


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